Misconceptions about Djokovic's strokes

He does not have a compact swing with sudden acceleration as claimed by many. On both his forehand and backhand, he has long smooth swings. On the backhand, he has a simple linear take-back like the WTA. On the forehand, his loop is simpler than many others.

His occasional blocking shots with a short fast swing have misled people.

Another misconception that is nicely busted by Djokovic's backhand is the myth that both CC and DTL shots can be hit without different directions of extension. Absolutely not the case. Djokovic's DTL BHs involve significant extension towards that target which is noticeably different from the CC BH.

To me it seems like fed and nadal are not really using a classic loop. yes they have a little loop but they drop the arm (while extending it) quite slowly and then accelerate on the way up. so they are not really using gravity and the actual swing is relatively short

To me it seems like fed and nadal are not really using a classic loop. yes they have a little loop but they drop the arm (while extending it) quite slowly and then accelerate on the way up. so they are not really using gravity and the actual swing is relatively short

He does not have a compact swing with sudden acceleration as claimed by many. On both his forehand and backhand, he has long smooth swings. On the backhand, he has a simple linear take-back like the WTA. On the forehand, his loop is simpler than many others.

His occasional blocking shots with a short fast swing have misled people.

His money strokes are hit with long smooth swings.

Click to expand...

Djokovic's forehand swing path is probably the lengthiest in the top four. He actually had troubles in his earlier days. His strokes were not as imposing as they currently are and his court coverage was much less extensive... any deep ball affected deeply his game play, which allowed Federer and the likes to pile up victories against him.

With a fitter body condition and a better court coverage, he is in better position to neutralize the efforts of his opponents, which gives him the time to wind up. But if you hit too flat and deep, his big swing will start to play against him just like it used to.

Well of course the acceleration is greatest short before contact. however that doesn't mean players first swing slowly and then accelerate gradually.

the reason for the late and steep incline of the velocity curve is that the final stages of the kinematic chain fire quite late in the swing. and just like a whip because those links are the lightest in the chain they also create the most speed.

earlier in the swing you accelerate just as hard, however at this point the slower and bigger (but stronger) parts of the body are doing the job. in that phase not much speed is generated but a lot of the energy needed for the final parts of the chain.

Most WTA 2hbh take backs aren't a straight linear turn with the arms. They usually have a loop, so is more like a big reverse C. Arm configurations are almost always bent/bent. Many ATP 2 handers are straight/bent which djokovic also employs unless a bit out of position.

He does not have a compact swing with sudden acceleration as claimed by many. On both his forehand and backhand, he has long smooth swings. On the backhand, he has a simple linear take-back like the WTA. On the forehand, his loop is simpler than many others.

His occasional blocking shots with a short fast swing have misled people.

Well of course the acceleration is greatest short before contact. however that doesn't mean players first swing slowly and then accelerate gradually.

the reason for the late and steep incline of the velocity curve is that the final stages of the kinematic chain fire quite late in the swing. and just like a whip because those links are the lightest in the chain they also create the most speed.

earlier in the swing you accelerate just as hard, however at this point the slower and bigger (but stronger) parts of the body are doing the job. in that phase not much speed is generated but a lot of the energy needed for the final parts of the chain.

Click to expand...

I basically agree with this. In a Fed, or Djoker, or Nadal forehand the first part of the forward swing is very linear. That is the position of the racquet (because it stays to the right side of the body) creates a very direct line to the ball....The racquet is of course accelerating, in this linear buttcap to ball pulling action. BUT, the bulk of acceleration occurs as the arm starts to rotate to create angular speed....So the equation for these guys is to pull the racquet in a linear fashion and then rotate the racquet around the hand...This transition is where the racquet really begins to pick up speed.

Well of course the acceleration is greatest short before contact. however that doesn't mean players first swing slowly and then accelerate gradually.

the reason for the late and steep incline of the velocity curve is that the final stages of the kinematic chain fire quite late in the swing. and just like a whip because those links are the lightest in the chain they also create the most speed.

earlier in the swing you accelerate just as hard, however at this point the slower and bigger (but stronger) parts of the body are doing the job. in that phase not much speed is generated but a lot of the energy needed for the final parts of the chain.

Click to expand...

A bit different for two directions
For the vertical component the significant acceleration 11 seconds before the contact
See my previous posts on this subject as well.